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Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and if that something involves worldwide genocide... hey, that's life. Unfortunately, one individual has got this very idea into his head and because he's a raving nutter *and* an ultra-powerful, mega-rich media mogul means this is no loony pipe-dream - this is real life. As such, unless somebody somewhere can do something to stop him it's going to be a case of sitting comfortably, placing your head between your legs and kissing your jacksy goodbye!

In this third Strike game, the year is 2006 and the aforementioned media mogul, H. R. Malone, means to disrupt the world peace which has prevailed for the past decade by accumulating an army comprised of all the military warmongers made redundant when tranquillity reigned. With these newly-amassed men, Malone is now planning to blow the living dayights out of the world at large - starting with the United States. Only you, an elite member of the UN Special Task Force and your trusty chopper, can stop him. Go to it soldier, your country needs you!

This is the third offering in the Strike series, being preceded by the rather topper Desert and Jungle Strikes.

Save the world in true gung-ho style by blasting all and sundry and completing various missions.

Your mission directives take you all over the United States and South America where you are given specific tasks to complete either on foot, in your faithful Thunderhawk Attack chopper, in an M-4 Armoured assault Tank or in a heavily-armoured Osprey III transport copter. Here's a run down of where you'll go:

1. Hawaii
   Flush out the scum from the Visitors' Centre and collect the Telescope Mirror and place both on a waiting boat. Batter the stealth subs, rescue a plastic surgeon for a bit of a facelift then finish the enemy bridge and rescue some Green Berets before lunch. Phew!
2. Baja Oil Rigs
   Get rid of the radar station as only you know how, splatter the small oilrig, rescue some passengers from the jaws of hungry sharks then take out a few more targets before entering the main oil rig.
3. Main Rig
   Relying on your trusty feet, take out the gun cams and enemy fighters then find good guy agent Maverick for the code to the beacon. Set the air strike beacon and run like hell!
4. Mexico
   Rescue the scout team, annihilate the enemy camp, rescue defence contractors who are under imminent attack from enemy paratroopers, steal Malone's Ground Assault Vehicle plans. Next, take the controls of a GAV to destroy other GAVs. The grand finale involves dropping a smart bomb on Malone's factory doorstep.
5. San Francisco
   Blow up the bombs on the Golden Gate and Baybridge, take out the radio tower and Malone's west coast HQ. Having done that, now wipe out the Presidio tank depot with smart bombs before destroying the research centre and any weapon prototypes.
6. Alcatraz
   The famous prison of Alcatraz was bought by Malone in 1999. On foot again, blast the motion sensors, grab weapon blueprints, destroy the weapon stashes, grabbing what you can. Finally locate and free Agent Long-Haul who shows you to the exit.
7. New York
   Bomb over the sky-scrapers of Manhattan where your tasks involve taking out monitoring devices, blasting Malone's financial centres, rescuing civilians from burning buildings, blasting choppers, rescuing world leaders and disarming a time bomb in the World Trade Centre by cutting the correct wire.
8. Las Vegas
   Fly over neon-lit Vegas at night to capture the radar commander. When he gives the location of radar sites destroy them. Next, clear the roads of enemy vehicles, knock out the power grid, before capturing and entering the casino.
9. Underground
   Take out the mighty laser then prepare for the final showdown with Malone himself - beware for dirty tricks!
10. Casino
    After entering the lush gambling hall, take out pit bosses, and blast open the change booth in order to rescue prisoners. To discover the entrance to Malone's hideout find sexy VIP. She'll show you where Malone's hideout is. Destroy change booth gun sites, ride shuttle car down to Malone's underground lair.

There are four different modes of transport in Urban Strike. These include:

Thunderhawk Attack Chopper:
This is a very different vehicle from the last Strike games the cream of 21st Century machinery, loaded with the best modern weaponry including guns, missiles and rockets. The pilot can also pick up other objects such as smart bombs to finish a job more effectively.

M-4 Armoured Assault Tank:
This rock hard tank is slow but very tough and with 5,000 points of armour can withstand the most savage of attacks.

Osprey III Transport Copter:
A large, cumbersome vehicle, the Osprey is also heavily armoured and with its 20 seating capacity is ideal for rescue missions.

Feet:
For the first time, our hero can alight from the trusty copter and make his way on foot. Armed with rockets and gun power, these are mostly indoor missions and tend to involve (a) killing things, (b) rescuing things, and (c) defusing things (although not necessarily in that order).

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Lucy on the chronic case of sequelitis. Those who are nuts about the 'Strike' series, will relish every moment, but for the rest, I'm sure there will be some disappointment over the lack of surprises. The urban bits aren't quite as metropolitan as they could be. The missions tend to be a little long-winded at times; and the platform bits are severely graphically challenged. So why did I get such a kick out of this game?

Quite simply because it's the best shoot-'em-up to appear in ages. The copter control is unique in efficiency and playability, making it a joy to fly. Let's face it, we've been spoilt by its predecessors, and by anyone's standards Urban is a class piece of software.

Dakka-dakka-dakka, booooom, Armageddon! Wow, I love this game me. Urban Strike is a thoroughly enjoyable sequel - a thinking man's (or woman's) shoot-'em-up which requires thought and strategy rather than just mindless blasting.

Having said that although this *is* a sequel and although it's a good game in its own right and controls markedly better than its predecessors, graphically it's not up to the excellent standard set by Jungle Strike - the San Francisco fog, for example, looks like snow - and there aren't as many missions.

Okay, there are the new walking around bits but these are graphically sub-standard, jerky and difficult to control. However, despite the down points, this game has kept me enthralled for a week, its highly challenging and definitely worth a look.

Graphics 88%
P. Intricate backgrounds and thoroughly realistic vehicles.
N. The 'on foot' levels are distinctly ropey.

Sound 85%
P. Great explosion sounds and reasonable accompanying tunes.
N. There are no real helicopter sounds.

Playability 90%
P. Excellent controls in the vehicle sections and a good range of difficult missions.
N. The 'on foot' sections really let it down with jerky movement.

Lastability 89%
P. Many intricate missions and missions within missions and just the right level of difficulty to keep you engrossed.

Value For Money 88%
P. Fairly tough gameplay means you won't finish this in a hurry - so it's well worth forking out for.

Overall 89%
A solid sequel which could have been better in places but which should keep Strike and shoot-'em-up fans more than happy.